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BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 


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TE,NDERi^"OOl 
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A.    True    Str. 
Tende-  -  .- 


TENDERFOOT 
AND  EXPERT 


^ 


A    true    story    and     experience    of    a 
Tenderfoot  at  Goldfield  and  Tonopah. 


COPYRIGHT,  1905 

BY    JOHN    D.    HOFF,    M.    E. 

Mutual  Publishing  Company 

Office:  Rooms  913-914  Mutual  Savings  Bank  Bldg. 

San  Francisco,  Cal. 


9  7GfS- 


Office    Western    Union    Telegraph    Company, 

New  York,  1905. 
Expert, 

San    Francisco,    Cal. 

Meet  me  at   Reno   Monday  morning. 

(Signed)  TENDERFOOT. 

On  receipt  of  the  above  telegram  from  Tenderfoot 
to  meet  him  at  Reno,  Expert  took  the  noted  Southern 
Pacific  Limited  for  Goldfield.  While  quietly  admiring 
the  Grand  Gorge,  the  American  River  had'  cut  through 
the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains,  about  two  hundred  miles 
east  of  San  Francisco,  who  should  drop  alongside  of 
Expert  and  sing  out,  as  they  were  passing  Dutch  Flat, 
hut  a  wiry,  little  old  man.  well  groomed  and  with  a 
high-pitched  voice:  "I  never  saw  these  diggm's  before, 
but  I  know  all  about  'em.  I  also  know  about  Union 
Valley,  Hangtown,  Grizzly  Flat,  Yuba  Hill  and  Yuba 
Dam,"  as  he  pointed  a  long,  slender  finger  beyond 
Dutch  Flat.  "And  then  I  was  a  forty-niner  a-working 
on  the  river  bar  in  old  Mariposa  County.  Mighty 
hard  work,  this  mining  business,  working  in  the  water, 
a-scrapin'  of  the  bed  rock  for  those  little  chunks  of 
gold,     I  got  stiffer  than  a  poker,  yes  I  did,  yes  I  did." 

Expert  said :  "These  diggings  in  Forty-nine  around 
Grizzly  Flat,  Yuba  Hill  and  Yuba  Dam  were  far  richer, 
so  history  says,  than  the  placer  diggings  in  old  Mari- 
posa." 

The  old  man  braced  up  and  said:  "There  was 
mighty  rich  spots  in  old  Mariposa,  yes  there  was,  yes 
there  was." 

He  warmed  up  and  said  in  a  high  key  to  prove  the 
wonders  of  Mariposa  County : 

"I  knew  a  feller  down  there  on  the  Merced  River 
who  came  from  'Old  Mizzoura,'  who,  by  the  way,  was 
a  fine  young  chap,  who  picked  up  a  dirty  rock  and 
found  it  was  heavy,  and  when  he  washed  off  the  dirt, 
what  do  you  think?  It  was  a  gold  nugget  worth  nigh 
onto  three  thousand  dollars,  yes  he  did,  yes  he  did. 
What  der  you  think?     That  feller  went  right  back  to 


Grrh 


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Missouri,  and  when  the  war  come  on  between  the 
North  and  the  South  he  went  ter  bush  whacking.  His 
wife  was  a  Union  woman,  and  she  took  all  the  chil- 
dren and  left  him,  yes  she  did,  yes  she  did;  and  he 
never  seen  sight  on  her  until  years  afterward,  in  1901, 
and  where  do  you  think  the  two  old  people  met?  It 
was  by  accident  on  the  old  Oakland  ferry  boat,  yes 
they  did,  yes  they  did ;  and  then  and  thar  those  two  "old 
people  made  up.  Her  maiden  name  was  Lee,  and  now 
that  thar  old  man  is  a-telling  everybody  that  Lee  did 
not  surrender  until  1901." 

After  being  entertained  a  long  time  in  this  manner, 
Expert  said  good-bye  to  this  brisk  old  forty-niner,  tell- 
ing him  he  was  glad  to  see  that  in  his  old  age  he  was 
able  to  take  a  trip  East  in  all  the  comfort  and  elegance 
of  the  Golden  State  Flier,  which  was  quite  a  contrast  to 
the  way  he  came  to  California  on  the  "Bull  Team 
Flier"  in  forty-nine; 

The  colored  porter  of  their  train  was  of  unusual  in- 
terest He  was  large  for  his  age  and  weighed  240 
pounds ;  a  very  polite  and  humorous  negro.  As  the 
train  was  going  at  a  rapid  rate,  about  fifty  miles 
an  hour,  a  thin,  tall  Easterner  was  seen  coming  down 
the  car,  and  suddenly  stopped  as  he  discovered  the 
aisle  was  filed  with  the  porter.  The  porter  said  "Come 
on,"  and  to  our  surprise  and  wonder  at  how  it  wa$ 
done  the  Easterner  passed. 

They  exclaimed  to  the  porter :  "How  was  so  won- 
derful a  feat  so  easily  accomplished  without  you  get- 
ting out  of  the  car?" 

"Why,  massa,  that  was  simple  enough.  I  just  blows 
all  the  wind  out  of  me  and  just  let  him  pass,  and  then 
I  fills  up  again.  See?"  said  he;  and  the  expanding, 
exhilarating,  exhaling  and  compressing  feat  was  done 
before  Expert's  eyes,  and  then  he  saw  how  easily  the. 
tall,  thin  man  could  pass  the  porter. 

Expert  arrived  at  Reno.  The  Eastern  Flier  with 
Tenderfoot  on  board  was  flying  from  the  East  and 
was  on  time.  They  soon  met  with  a  crash — not  the 
trains,  but  Expert  and  Tenderfoot.  When  their  breath 
was   recovered — 


"How  soon  will  our  train  start  for  Goldfield?"  ex- 
claimed Tenderfoot.  It  can't  start  too  soon  for  me. 
T  must  get  my  trunk  re-checked,  and  there  it  is." 

His  face  beamed  with  smiles  as  he  spied  his  trunk 
as  it  was  rolled  oflf  the  Eastern  Flier,  so  down  into 
his  pocket  he  went  for  that  precious  check.  That  be- 
witching smile  soon  changed  to  a  picture  of  utter  dis- 
may as  in  his  trousers  no  check  was  found. 

"I  can't  go,"  he  yelled,  "until  I  get.  the  check, 
we  will  all  be  in  the  tail  end  of  the  rush  in  getting  to 
Goldfield — and   there   goes   the  bell." 

In  desperation  at  the  thought  of  missing  the  Gold- 
field  train,  a  happy  thought  struck  him  as  he  made 
for  the  baggage  man. 

"I'll  prove  it  is  my  trunk  by  showing  the  agent 
that  I  have  the  only  key  that  will  open  that  trunk." 

But  the  agent  hesitated  and  said:  "Well,  if  you 
can  open  that  trunk,  what  is  it  we  will  find  in  it  and 
what  is   on   top?" 

"Well,  well,"  sighed  the  Tenderfoot  "is  it  not 
enough  evidence  to  you  that  I  can  open  the  trunk?" 

"No,"  said  the  agent,  "it  is  not  enough.  When  I 
open  it  I  want  you  to  tell  me  what  is  lying  on  the  top." 

Tenderfoot  excitedly  exclaimed :  "If  any  man  be- 
sides me  has  a  key  that  will  open  that  trunk,  here  is 
a   fifty-dollar  bill   for  him." 

But   of  no  avail;   the  agent  would   not  yield. 

"You  must  describe  what  is  on  the  top  lid  of  the 
trunk  before  I  re-check  it  to  Goldfield." 

"Well,"  ejected  Tenderfoot,  "it  is  a  dress  suit.  Is 
that   enough?" 

The  agent  grinned  and  ordered  the  trunk  checked 
at  once.    Expert  took  Tenderfoot  aside  and  said  to  him : 

"Never  give  it  away  any  more  that  you  have  or  will 
wear  a  dress  suit  in  the  evening  at  Goldfield," 

"Why?"    said   Tenderfoot,    in   all   innocence. 

Expert  said :  "The  first  time  a  dress  suit  appeared 
on  the  streets  of  Goldfield  one  evening,  the  blue-shirted 
and  khaki-suited  miners  exclaimed,  as  they  saw  it 
coming  up  the  main  street: 


"What  is  it?  Look  at  it!  Rubber!  Let's  put  it 
on  the  stage  in  the  Mint  Saloon  and  have  it  talk  and 
make  it  sing!" 

"No  sooner  said  than  done,  and 'at  the  point  of  half 
a  dozen  automatic  revolvers  he  was  put  upon  the  Mint 
Saloon  stage  and  made  to  dance  and  sing  between  the 
drinks  and  the  hurrahs  of  the  men."  This  narration  of 
exploits   at   Goldfield   was   chilling  to   Tenderfoot. 

A  ring  6i  the  bell,  a  whistle,  a  puflf,  and  the  Gold- 
field  train  was  off.  The  crowd  on  this  train  were  all 
an  interesting  study.  All  kinds  of  little  men  and  big 
men,  with  plug  hats,  derby  hats  and  broad-brim- 
med cowboy  hats.  The  khaki  suit  and  big-booted  ex- 
perts were  an  interesting  sight.  The  women  were  there, 
too.  All  were  a  joJly  and  hopeful  lot  to  behold.  One 
big,  good-natured  fellow  said  to  Expert,  as  he  got  into 
his  seat : 

"They  tell  me  you  have  been  to  Goldfield.  Tell  us 
all  you  know  of  that  'ar  country,  for  we  can  hardly 
wait  till  we  get  there;  and  say,  mister,  are  those  tales 
of  gold  we  hear  so  much  about  really  and  honestly  all 
true? — for  I  have  been  a-dreaming  every  night  for  one 
solid  month  of  this  yer  wonderful  Goldfield.  One 
morning,  mister,  I  braced  up  and  said  to  my  dear 
little  wife  away  up  in  Oregon :  'I  cannot  stand  it  any 
more,  little  girl,  and  I  will  have  to  leave  you  and  our 
little  baby  girl,  Nell,  and  try  to  get  some  of  that  'ar 
gold  away  down  thar  in  the  desert,  and  then  we  can 
build  a  little  home  for  you  and  Baby  Nell.  I'll  take 
you  to  father's,  whose  big,  warm  heart  and  house  are 
always  open  for  you  and  our  baby  girl.  I'll  soon  be 
back,'  I  assured  her,  'and  then  we'll  build  that  little 
home  by  the  Oregon  lake.'  Mister,  it's  nigh  killin'  me 
to  leave  that  darling  lot,  but  I  am  strong  and  healthy 
and  will  make  the  dirt  fly,  and  I  'low  I  can  bury  my- 
self in  the  ground  out  of  sight  with  pick,  shovel  and 
drill  quicker  than  any  man  in  that  'ar  camp,  and  I 
am  sure  I  am  going  to  get  some  of  that  'ar  precious 
stuff  if  there  is  any  thar  to  be  got.  I  am  bound  to 
stay  there  and  get  some  of  it  before  I  can  see  my  little 
wife  and  Nell." 


"Yes,"  said  Expert,  as  the  hopeful  crowd  pressed 
round  him  to  hear  the  words  that  he  might  drop.  "The 
gold  is  there  for  forty  miles  long  and  one  mile  wide. 
The  belt  is  running  northwesterly  and  southeasterly 
through  the  western  portion  of  Nevada,  and  is  now 
demonstrated  to  be  the  greatest  gold  and  silver  belt 
ever  discovered  in  the  world." 

A  beaming  smile  spread  over  the  features  of  the  big 
fellow,  for  he  had  seemed  to  doubt  all  that  he  had  heard 
away  up  in  Oregon  about  Goldfield.  The  crowd  pressed 
closer  around  Expert  and  seemed  to  be  anxious  to  hear 
more  of  the  promised  land  for  which  they  were  bound. 
Expert  continuing,  gave  them  a  description  of  the 
country  topographically.  He  said :  "The  country  is  ele- 
vated into  ridges  running  northerly  and  southerly, 
which  have  been  elevated  by  the  contraction  of  the 
north  and  south  poles,  the  granite  core  which  underlies 
the  country,  the  sedimentary  formations  being  friable 
and  easily  decomposed,  it  soon  eroded  away,  and  ex- 
poses the  apex  of  the  core,  exposing  the  mineral-bearing 
blue  porphyry  which  lies  over  the  granite  and  in  which 
are  the  valuable  mineral  veins  of  Tonopah  and  Gold- 
field.  Occasionally,  every  fifteen  or  twenty  miles,  the 
granite  is  seen  cropping  out  for  a  short  distance 
through  the  porphyritic  layers  called  ryolite  and  ande- 
site.  These  peaks  are  a  guide  to  the  direction  in  which 
the  mineral  belt  trends.  The  mineral  ore-bearing  veins 
are  principally  contacts  between  the  diflFerent  layers  of 
porphyry  and  between  the  granite  and  the  porphyry. 
There  is  also  a  system  of  veins  that  cut  across  these 
porphyry  reefs,  strata  and  contacts  at  right  angles. 
These  elevated,  exposed,  mineralized  porphyry  reefs, 
which  lie  on  the  apex  of  the  core,  are  all  taken  up 
and  located,  but  there  is  a  chance  for  all  of  you  who 
are  not  able  to  purchase  claims  to  develop,  by  apply- 
mg  for  leases  on  this  kind  of  mineral-bearing  ground. 
A  company  of  three  of  you  can  sink  a  shaft  and 
may  strike  it  rich,  as  others  have  done  One  carload 
of  ore  would  make  a  fortune  for  you.  Of  course  some 
will  lease,  work  and  dig,  get  nothing  and  be  a  disap- 
pointed lot,  and  a  knocker  you  may  become;  but  this 


great  mineral  district  will  be  yielding  millions  of  gold 
and  silver  when  the  knockers  are  all  gone." 

As .  the  train  went  southerly  through  the  beautiful 
Carson  Valley,  which  supplies  the  mining  camps  with 
produce,  potatoes  and  hay,  we  passed  Virginia 
City  as  we  emerged  from  the  valley  a  little  east  of 
the  railroad,  which  we  could  see  nestled  on  the  side  of 
Mount  Davidson.  Expert  pointed  it  out  to  them  as 
the  richest  spot  on  earth,  which  had  yielded  $400,000,- 
000  in  gold  and  silver  for  the  benefit  of  commerce  and 
mankind,  and  where  Mark  Twain  was  made  famous 
by  his   story,   "Roughing   It." 

In  one  of  these  stories  (and  all  of  them  were  taken 
from  facts)  he  describes  painting  this  spot  with  a  few 
friends  one  night  a  crimson  red,  and  by  so  doing  ad- 
mits that  they  had  driven  a  few  nails  in  their  own 
coffins.  When  this  crov^d  gets  to  Goldfield,  Expert  ad- 
vised them  not  to  try  to  paint  the  town  red. 

At  this  juncture  Tenderfoot  started  out  on  a  tour 
to  explore  the  train.  He  went  into  a  forward  car, 
where  the  tough  element  had  gradually  congre- 
gated and  were  drinking  and  carousing,  which 
was  a  circus  for  Tenderfoot.  After  he  had  been  gone 
about  thirty,  minutes  unearthly  yells  were  heard  com- 
ing from  the  forward  car.  Our  car  door  was  thrown 
violently  open,  with  a  big,  fat  woman  jammed  in  the 
door  and  Tenderfoot  close  behind.  She  screamed: 
"The  men  are  shooting  each  other  in  the  other  car !" 
She  kept  on  through  the  car  and  did  not  even  stop, 
banged  the  door  and  disappeared  in  the  rear  car. 
Close  after  Tenderfoot  came  all  kinds  of  little  men  and 
big  men  from  out  of  the  forward  car.     Expert  said : 

"What's   the   matter   with   you    fellows?" 

And  one  little  fellow  said:  "We  just  come  out  to 
let  them  fight  it  out." 

Quiet  was  finally  restored,  the  big  fat  woman  and 
Tenderfoot  brought  back  from  the  rear  of  the  train 
where  they  had  fled,  and  the  gun  players  put  into  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  train.  The  train  now  reached 
Wabuska  for  dinner.  Here  they  saw  the  Indians  in 
from   the   reservation.     The    little,   narrow   guage  train 


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was  soon  off  for  Sodaville,  where  the  train  starts  for 
Tonopah.  To  their  dismay  they  were  notified  that  the 
railroad  had  washed  away,  but  to  Tonopah  and  Gold- 
field  they  must  go.  Expert  having  a  few  pointers  in 
regard  to  who  might  have  teams  in  this  section  of 
the  country,  finally  secured  from  a  well  known  char- 
acter, you  might  say  a  child  of  the  desert,  whose  name 
was  Tom  Piper,  who  had  lived  in  this  part  of  the  coun- 
try for  years.  He  was  a  temperate,  honest  and  indus- 
trious man  who  had  accumulated  a  few  cattle,  and  also 
owned  a  mine. 

When  he  knew  of  their  predicament  and  anxiety  to 
push  ahead  on  their  trip,  he  came  to  them  and  said : 

''Mister,  I'll  take  youse  to  Tonopah  in  a  rig 
such  as  I  have.  I  want  you  to  look  at  it  as  it  may  not 
suit  you.  There  is  no  style  about  it,  but  it  will  sure 
get  you  there." 

He  insisted  on  them  seeing  it,  so  they  went  to  look 
at  Tom's  rig.  Behold !  two  handsome,  large  horses 
whom  he  called  Pacer  and  Punch,  and  a  stout  little 
wagon,  which  would  be  a  prospector's  delight. 

"Why,  Tom,"  said  they,  "what  a  fine  outfit." 

"Yes,  Mister,  but  you  city  chaps  has  style  in  your 
ridin'  and  I  want  to  be  sure  you're  plum  satisfied  with 
the  team,  I'll  take  yer  to  Tonopah." 

A  bargain  was  struck,  and  Tom  said :  "I'll  get 
something  to  eat  and  you  fellows  get  ready  and  we 
will  be  off  in  a  jiff." 

A  great  crowd  from  the  blockaded  train  was  delayed 
at  Sodaville  on  account  of  the  washout  and  they  were 
roaming  around  in  small  lots.  Tenderfoot  was  out 
circulating  among  the  different  lots  of  men  while  we 
were  packing  up.  He  soon  came  back  and  said  he 
had  run  across  a  man  who  was  broke  and  he  had  a 
piece  of  rock  which  was  plum  full  of  gold  which  was 
a  beautiful  specimen,  and  had  at  least  as  much  gold  in 
it  as  was  in  a  $5  gold  piece,  and  it  was  surely  worth  a 
good  deal  more  for  its  beauty  and  he  had  offered  it  to 
Tenderfoot  at  $2.50. 

Expert  said :     "I  will  go  over  with  you  and  see  " 

10 


He  found  the  fellow,  who  was  just  from  Colorado, 
with  a  long  tale  of  misfortune  and  woe.  The  specimen 
of  ore  he  said  came  from  a  noted  mine  in  Colorado, 
but  now  he  was  broke. 

Tenderfoot  reached  into  his  boot  for  the  money, 
but  Expert,  who  had  examined  the  ore,  said :  "No,  we 
will  see  -him  later."  Then  taking  Tenderfoot  aside  he 
said:  "This,  is  only  a  piece  of  quartz  bored  into  with 
a  dentist's  drill  and  filled  up  with  gold  leaf.  There  is 
only  about 'five  cents  worth  of  gold  in  the  whole  piece. 

Off  to  Tonopah  they  soon  started  with  Tom  Piper 
pulling  the  reins  over  Pacer  and  Punch's  backs.  What 
a  fine  team  and  outfit,  they  all  said.  Tom  looked  up, 
seemed   very  much  pleased  and   said : 

"I  am  mighty  glad  you  think  that,  for.  Mister,  it 
is  a  fact  that  some  of  those  fellers  that  come  out  here 
seems  to  kick  at  everything  all  the  way  to  Tonopah  and 
all  the  way  back,  and  its'  mighty  pleasin'  to  me  to 
hear  you  fellers  talk  in  that  way,  for  I  know  you  will 
not  kick  on  the  way.  That  horse  Pacer,  he's  a  mighty 
good  horse ;  yes  he  is,  Mister,  he  and  I  have  been  in 
heaps  of  mighty  tight  places,  but  he  always  brings  me 
through  and  he  is  a  lucky  horse,  too ;  he  has  hauled 
lots  of  poor  chaps  to  Tonopah  that  struck  it  mighty  rich 
up  there,  including  Billy  D  ,  Jimmy  B.  and  Shorty  K. 
I'll  introduce  you  to  them  all  over  there.  They  all 
know  Pacer,  too." 

"Why,  Tom,  why  did  you  not  stay  with  lucky  Pacer 
too  at  Tonopah?" 

Tom  straightened  up,  pointing  back  over  the 
town  and  beyond  Sodaville.  "I  have  a  little  home  over 
thar,  a  dear  wife  and  four  little  ones,  all  in  a  nice 
cozy  spot.  There's  lots  of  young  calves  and  cattle 
a  roamin'  about ;  Pve  got  a  mine  there,  too.  Mister, 
and  what  more  do  I  want?  I  am  afraid  if  I  leave  it 
ril  never  find  such  another  warm  spot.  'I  know  all 
about  the  rest  of  the  boys  hereabout  who  went  to 
Tonopah  and  Goldfield  and  are  now  a  mighty  rich  lot, 
but  their  money  could  not  buy  that  thar  place  over  be- 
hind that  thar  hill,  where  wy  babies  and  cattle  are 
a  roamin'  about." 

11 


They  were  all  very  quiet  for  a  time  after  this  speech 
with  their  own  thoughts.  As  they  drove  along  through 
the  beautifully  colored,  treeless  hills,  stained  by  the 
mineral  oxides  and  carbonates  of  red,  yellow  and 
green,  which  colors  and  tints  no  painters  could  repro- 
duce, and  having  a  view  for  miles  of  the  contour  of 
the  country  with  the  Sierra  Navada  at  the  back  as  a 
background  covered  with  snow  was  an  inspiration  to 
all  lovers  of  nature  When  suddenly  Tom  from  his 
quietude  exclaimed,  as  they  were  rolling  along : 

"Say,  Mister,  do  you  see  all  that  level  country  be- 
yond there?  That's  no  desert,  that  soil  is  mighty  rich, 
and  if  it  just  had  water  on  it  you  would  be  surprised  to 
see  the  way  vegetables  and  fruit  would  grow,  and  I 
believe  water  can  be  got  there  by  drilling  a  hole ; 
yes,  I  do,  Mister.  I  have  lived  in  this  country  thirty 
years  and  it  just  suits  me  and  when  we  have  good 
rains  here  that  country  is  all  covered  with  grass  and 
flowers,  and  only  in  the  center  of  the  valley,  at  the 
low  places,  is  it  bare  and  nothing  will  grow,  for  only 
there  the  alkali  and  the  borax  is  found,  and  this  is  the 
country  where  the  Borax  King  lived  when  he  was  a 
poor  man  and  had  teams  hauling  wood  to  the  silver 
mills,  before  he  found  the  borax  mine,  and  he  is  a 
mighty  fine  man.  I  think  lots  of  him.  He  is  mighty 
shrewd  and  smart.  See  the  way  he  handles  his  coin 
at  Frisco  and  the  big  things  he  builds  and  runs.  When 
I  took  a  trip  one  time  to  Frisco  and  got  down  to  his 
big  offices  in  one  of  those  big  head  framed  buildings. 
I  guess  you  know  he  is  a  mighty  busy  man,  and  I 
thought  I  would  not  take  his  time  to  see  him,  but 
when  he  heard  that  I  was  out  there  he  threw  the  doors 
wide  open  and  said :  'Come  right  in,  Tom ;  I  have 
lots  of  time  to  see  and  visit  my  old  friends,'  and  he 
brushed  all  others  aside  to  chat  with  me  a  while." 

Thirty  miles  out  from  Sodaville  they  stopped  at  a 
beautiful  spring  of  water  where  they  met  teams  going 
and  coming  from  Tonopah.  Tom  was  much  worried 
about  getting  hay  in  Tonopah  for  his  horses  as  the 
railroad  was  unable  to  haml  any  hay  into  Tonopah,  and 
he  kept  talking  about   not  being  able   to  get   any   hay 

12 


when  he  got  to  Tonopah.     Finally  he  said  : 

"I  know  all  them  livery  men  over  there,  and  if  they 
have  any  hay  hid  away  they  will  divide  with  me." 
so  Tom  quit  talking  hay  from  that  time  on,  when  he 
realized  what  he  could  do. 

As  they  rode  down  from  the  Summit  into  Lone  Moun- 
tain Valley,  which  lies  west  of  Tonopah,  they  were  sur- 
prised to  find  it  a  rich  broad  expanse  of  rich  soil  and 
indications  of  water  at  different  points  in  it.  They  re- 
marked to  Tom  if  anyone  had  ever  dug  for  water  in  it. 

"Oh,  yes,"  he  said.  "See  yonder  ahead  of  us  is  the 
old  stage  station  and  it  is  only  forty  feet  to  lots  of 
pure,  good  water." 

Driving  up  at  a  brisk  trot  to  the  station, 
they  saw  a  man  sitting  down  smoking  a  pipe 
near  the  well  The  water  was  lifted  out  of  the 
well  with  horse  power  belted  to  a  force  pump,  which 
filled  the  tank  and  trough.  He  sold  the  water  to  the 
travelers  for  their  horses  at  25  cents  per  head  Ex- 
pert said  to  the  man  with  the  pipe,  the  owner  of  the 
well: 

"Why  don't  you  irrigate  a  patch  of  this  ground  and 
raise  alfalfa,  which  would  now  sell  for  $100  per  ton  at 
Tonopah?     This  is  very  rich  ground." 

He  straightened  himself  up  and  with  one  long  pull 
at  the  pipe,  exclaimed:  "Me  work?  Not  much.  I  am 
a  native  Californian." 

Tom  whipped  up  his  horses  and  drove  on  in  silence. 
Expert  exclaimed:  "Tom,  at  what  price  do  you  sup- 
pose we  could  buy  that  man  out?  If  a  gasoline  engine 
was  put  on  there  to  raise  the  water  a  beautiful  ranch 
could  be  made  of  this  spot  and  a  very  profitable  one, 
too." 

"I  believe,  Mister."  said  Tom.  "if  you  would  just 
show  that  fellow  $200  in  gold  twenties  he  will  com- 
mence thinking,  that  he  could  take  that  $200  and  go  up 
to  Tonopah  and  beat  the  big  games  a  running  there, 
yes,  he  would,  mister,  and  when  he  had  come  to  that 
conclusion  you  would  get  that  thar  place  sure  for  that 
little  wad  o'  gold." 

13 


Tenderfoot  said :  "Why  not  buy  this  place  as  it  is 
so  near  the  Tonopah  Railroad,  and  you  told  us.  Ex- 
pert, just  before  we  got  here,  that  over  yonder  to  the 
right  on  Lone  Mountain  are  mines  of  lead  and  silver, 
and  the  valleys,  you  say,  are  underlaid  with  coal  and 
limestone  cropping  out  on  yonder  treeless  peak  for  flux 
to  treat  the  Tonopah  ores.  We  could  form  a  company 
and  build  a  smelter  to  treat  these  ores,  and  a  townsite 
we  could  start  and  soon  a  city  would  he  built  " 

"True,"  said  Expert,  "and  some  day  this  will  all 
come  true,  but,  Tenderfoot,  when  you  see  the  great 
mines  of  Tonopah  and  Goldfield  this  'pipe  dream'  will 
fade  away  and  nothing  but  a  mine  of  gold  will  satisfy 
you — not  a  ranch  to  raise  hay." 

They  drove  on  and  soon  saw  Tonopah  nestled  high 
up  between  two  buttes  called  Mt.  Oddie  and  Mt.  Brower 
with  the  tall,  steel  head  frames  of  the  mines  looming 
up  into  the  sky.  It  was  a  sight  in  this  treeless  coun- 
try and  beautiful  to  behold.  The  rumbling  of  the  big 
stamn  mills,  the  noise  echoing  through  the  hills  was 
music,  said  Expert,  to  his  ears,  for  every  drop  of  the 
stamps  unloosed  a  dollar  from  nature's  grip  to  land  in 
Uncle  Sam's  mint,  there  to  be  coined  and  then  scat- 
tered broadcast  over  Uncle  Sam's  domain,  with  which 
to  build  battleships,  which  in  turn  will  influence  for 
the  peace  of  the  world  and  augment  and  protect  lib- 
erty for  all  men.  We  are  now  able  to  see  how  far- 
reaching  are  the  researches,  energy,  privation  and  labor 
of  the  prospector,  but  no  one  can  accurately  tell. 

They  are  now  on  the  outskirts  of  Tononah,  they  pass 
by  the  graveyards,  which,  by  the  way,  was  not  started 
by  having  to  kill  a  man  with  a  ^ix  shooter,  as  was  done 
in  '59  at  Virvinia  City,  Nev ,  according  to  Mark  Twain, 
brt  it  was  bad  whiskv  that  started  the  Tonopah  grave- 
yard. They  asked  Tom  to  tell  what  he  knew  about 
this  graveyard  and  the  fellows   in  it.     He  said : 

"I  knowed  most  all  of  those  poor  fellows  that  are 
buried  over  there.  Some  of  them  have  been  in  this 
country  prospecting  for  thirty  years,  and  when  silver 
went  down  this  part  of  the  country  and  over  by  Cin- 
derella  went   flat,   and    everybody   went  broke,   and   all 

14 


we  had  left  to  show  for  our  hard  work  in  this  country 
was  beautiful  bunches  of  paper,  all  printed  with  pic- 
tures of  mills  and  mines  and  a  great  gold  star  in  the 
corner,  and  printed  on  some  of  them  was  'Continental 
Consolidated  Combination  Gold  and  Silver  Mining 
&  Milling  Company,'  and  a  lot  of  other  stuff,  and  the 
hull  lot  would  not  buy  a  railroad  ticket  to  get  out  of 
this  place  so  we  all  had  to  stay  here,  and  when  Ton- 
opah  was  struck  about  three  years  ago  all  of  those 
fellows  that  are  buried  over  thar  flocked  to  Tonopah, 
where  whiskey  was  galore,  and  these  chaps  had  not 
smelt  whiskey  for  a  long  time,  Mister,  sure  and  all 
the  other  boys  who  struck  it  rich  treated  all  these  old 
fellows  from  morning  till  night  and  when  the  cold 
weather  came  on  their  headquarters  was  in  the  warm 
barroom  so  comfortably  kept,  oyt  into  the  cold  they 
staggeringly  went,  into  the  dark  dreary  night  to  find 
their  dugouts  or  camps  and  finally  reached  the  same 
and  would  crawl  into  their  hard,  rough  and  chilly  beds, 
to  awake  the  next  day  with  a  pain  in  their  sides,  their 
poor  lungs  being  diseased  with  bad  whiskey  and  also 
their  liver  by  cold  storage  meat,  and  in  twenty-four 
hours  the  poor  fellows  would  be  found  stone  dead. 
They  called  it  the  black  plague,  but  no,  Mister,  it's  that 
thar  bad  whisky  that  killed  off  my  old  friends  that  lie 
over  thar  in  that  lonely  spot  with  a  stone  uncut  or 
marked  at  their  heads." 

They  soon  passed  by  the  graveyards  and  were  in  the 
city  of  Tonopah,  Pacer  holding  his  head  aloft.  Tom 
declared  he  was  smelling  for  hay  and  he  would  get  it 
too  if  there  was  any  in  that  thar  town.  The  horses  trot- 
ted down  the  busy,  hurrying,  bustling  street,  with  strains 
of  music  from  pianos,  fiddles  and  harps  floating  out 
from  the  glaring  wide  open  saloons  Glancing  in  them 
as_  they  drove  by  could  be  seen  the  long  row  of  gam- 
bling tables,  roulette  wheel  and  faro  banks  around 
which  were  groups  of  men  who  often  won  or  lost  from 
one  dollar  to  fifty  thousand  dollars  in  a  few  hours,  as 
men  in  this  camp  were  numerous  who  could  afford  and 
did  lose  thousands  which  showed  how  rapidly  wealth 
is   accumulated   here.      One   gambling   firm    is    reported 

16 


to  have  made  half  a  million  dollars  in  a  short  while. 

As  Tom  did  not  drink,  gamble  or  smoke,  of  course 
he  did  not  haul  up  at  any  of  these  places  of  resort,  but 
trok  them  to  the  Palace  Hotel,  where  they  were  soon  in 
comfortable,  modern  quarters  dreaming  of  the  hidden 
wealth  they  had  come  to  get. 

The  barroom,  rotunda  and  offices  of  the  hotels 
in  Nevada  are  all  one  so  they  were  continually  being 
called  to  the  bar  to  be  introduced  to  the  jolly,  good- 
hearted  representative  men  of  the  town.  They  were 
invariably  all  young  men  of  the  best  mettle  and  qual- 
ity, for  only  those  who  have  the  nerve  and  grit  to 
penetrate  the  desert  came  to  this  country  first.  Fully 
fifty  per  cent  have  made  a  stake  here.  The  crowds 
tha^-  came  later,  in  comfort  and  ease  and  a'l  the  way 
by  rail,  are  not  of  the-  same  kind  of  stock  that  com- 
posed the  camp.  The  vim  and  the  wonderful  develop- 
ment of  the  camp  and  the  unprecedented  growth  of 
the  same  into  a  city  of  electric  lights,  automobile 
routes,  electric  power  plant  and  great  reduction  works 
and  one  large  hotel  with  well  furnished  rooms,  electric 
bells  and  lights,  toilet,  bath  and  telephone  for  each 
room,  so  that  each  mining  operator  can  reach  each  of 
his  camps  by  'phone,  is  entirely  due  to  the  stalwart, 
vigorous,  enterprising  young  Americans,  and  such  is 
the  kind  of  crowd  they  were  called  to  the  bar  to  meet. 

The  neyt  mornirjy  Expert  was  aroused  by  Tenderfoot 
saying:  "I  have  been  out  taking  in  the  town  and 
have  met  a  mining  man  who  is  a  big  gun  in  this  town, 
knows  all  about  the  mines,  all  the  prospects  and  the 
way  the  gold  and  silver  belt  runs.  He  told  me  on  the 
side  he  had  a  pointer  about  a  certain  mine  striking  the 
big  Macdonald  ledge,  but  he  had  a  bigger  thing,  further 
north  on  the  string.  He  would  like  to  take  me  out, 
and  my  friends,  to  show  us  the  big  ledge.  If  we  liked 
it  he  could  get  hold  of  it  for  a  few  hundred  in  coin 
and  a  block  of  stock  in  the  concern,  but  the  parties 
would  not  part  with  it  all  as  they  knew  it  would  be  a 
bonanza  in  time,  so  get  up  and  get  dressed  for  I  will 
have  Tom,  Pacer  and  Punch  all  ready  to  go."  So  off 
he  went  with  Tenderfoot  and  his  new  found  friend, 
with  Tom  and  Pacer  all  eager  for  the  bout. 

17 


They  went  several  miles  out  from  Tonopah  and 
climbed  a  big  hill,  and  right  on  the  top  we  came  to  a 
shaft  and  cut. 

"Look,"  said  the  miner,  "at  that  big  ledge  of  quartz. 
See  how.  it  is  stained  with  mineral  and  a  little  more 
digging  will  soon  be  in  rich  §tufif." 

Expert's  mouth  flew  open  and  he  steadily  gazed  at 
this  strange  phenomena,  that  a  ledge  of  white  quartz 
could  be  running  in  this  Malipi  bluff  (a  recent  forma- 
tion), so  he  stooped  down  to  examine  the  supposed  big 
ledge  of  white  quartz  and  took  out  his  knife,  and  be- 
hold, said  he,  as  he  whittled  up  the  white  stuff : 

"This  is  not  quartz,  my  friend,  or  you  could  not 
scratch  or  whittle  it  in  this  way.  This  is  only  a  deposit 
of  sulphate  of  lime  that  is  used  to  make  plaster  and 
plaster  of  paris,  and  to  get  genuine  quartz  that  carries 
values  on  this  ground  you  would  have  to  sink  a  shaft 
through  this  Malipi.  Under  it  you  would  find  the  shale, 
sandstone  and  lime  and  then  you  would  strike  the  blue 
porphyry  in  time,  I  should  judge  at  a  total  of  about 
500  feet,  and  then  by  drifting  and  crosscutting  you  may 
and  you  may  not  strike  a  mineralized  quartz  vein. 
Look  back  there  at  Mt.  Oddie  and  Mt.  Brower.  Don't 
you  see  how  the  Malipi,  shale,  sandstone  and  lime  are 
all  tilted  up  by  the  granite,  or  alaskite,  core,  and  be- 
tween these  two  points  all  of  this  friable  material  has 
been  eroded  and  washed  away  leaving  the  porphyry 
exposed,  with  its  rich  silver  and  gold  quartz  veins  crop- 
ping, which  enabled  Jim  Butler  to  find  it,  so  we  have  got 
to  find  a  washed  off  place  or  sink  a  deep  shaft  before 
we  can  do  anything  more.  Do  you  see  over  there  the 
great  Mizpah  mine  which  has  $60,000,000  of  ore  blocked 
out?  It  has  built  a  railroad  sixty-five  miles  long  and 
equipped  itself,  and  paid  two  dividends  of  a  quarter  of  a 
million." 

"Yes,"  said  Tom,  "that  is  so,  and  when  Jim  Butler 
sold  this  mine  he  asked  the  expert  $350,000  cash  down. 
The  expert  sent  a  telegram  to  Philadelphia  that  cost 
$500,  giving  a  report  on  the  mine  and  asking  the  Phila- 
delphia parties  to  allow  him  to  draw  $50,000.  A  tele- 
gram came  back  authorizing  the  expert  to  draw  $50,000, 

18 


which  was  paid  to  Jim  Butler,  and  before  the  balance, 
$300,000,  was  due  the  royalty  of  the  leasers  had  paid  for 
the  mine  in  full." 

Tom  said  when  Jim  Butler  made  out  the  papers  for 
the  Mizpah  claim  and  had  signed  them  and  delivered 
the  contract  to  their  agent  that  the  Eastern  crowd  gave 
orders  for  the  leasers  to  stop  getting  out  any  more  ore 
and  as  none  of  them  had  any  written  contract,  but  had 
all  taken  Jim  Butler's  word  for  a  lease  of  twelve 
months,  so  they  all  threw  down  their  tools  and  thought 
they  were  done  up.  Jim.  hearing  of  the  orrler,  went  to 
the  Easterners  and  asked  to  see  the  contract  he  had 
signed  again.  They  handed  it  over  to  him  for  his  per- 
usal. He  no  sooner  got  the  contract  in  his  hands  than 
he  immediately  tore  it  up  and  remarked : 

"Now  I  guess  the  leasers  can  work  out  their  full 
time,  as  my  word  was  given  to  them  in  good  faith,  and 
I  would  use  the  price  of  the  mine  to  make  my  word 
good,"  so  the  Easterners,  to  get  another  contract  for 
the  mine,  promised  Jim  Butler  to  let  the  leasers  work 
fhfir  time  otit.  with  the  result  that  the  royalty  from 
the  leases  paid  for  the  mine. 

About  this  time  a  crowd  of  Colorado  bullies  arrived 
in  camp  with  six  shooters  strapped  around  themselves. 
They  called  themselves  "the  dirty  dozen"  and  undertook 
to  run  the  town  Soon  one  of  them  was  given  a  leaden 
pill  and  the  rest  were  soon  afterward  marched  out  of 
town.  The  rough,  bulldozing,  law-defying,  claim- jump- 
in.of  element  has  had  to  take  a  back  seat  in  this  camp  for 
all  time  to  come. 

_  Arriving  back  at  Tonopah.  Tom  said :  "Mister,  I 
will  now  have  to  leave  you  sure,  as  I  find  that  my 
livery  friend  has  only  one  bale  of  hay,  and  I  must  start 
back  to  Sodaville  right  away.  I  am  sorry.  Mister,  yes 
I  am.  that  I  can't  take  you  on  to  Goldfield."  So  they 
reluctantly  had  to  part  with  Tom  and  Pacer  and  take 
the  stage  to  Goldfield.  The  road  was  strung  out  with 
teams  loaded  with  ore  coming  from  Goldfield,  and 
teams  going  there  with  freight. 

At  Ramsey's  well,  about  half  way  between  Tonopah 
and  Goldfield,  a  well  was  sunk  240  feet,  where  abund- 

19 


ance  of  pure,  clear  water  was  struck.  They  stopped  here 
for  lunch  and  changed-  horses.  A  colored  man  was  on 
our  stage,  who  had  just  arrived  from  the  Southern 
states.     As  he  lined  up  to  the  lunch  counter  he  said : 

"I'll  just  take  a  piece  of  that  pie;  what  is  the  price 
of  it,  Mister?" 

"It  is  ten  cents  a  slice,"  said  the  vendor  behind  the 
counter. 

The  colored  man  took  the  piece  of  pie  and  soon  de- 
voured it.  He  threw  down  a  twenty-five  cent  piece  on 
the  counter,  the  vendor  dropped  it  into  the  till  and 
went  on  with  ^his  work.  The  stage  was  just  ready  to 
start. 

The  colored  man  said :  "See  here,  Mister,  you 
forgot  to  give  me  my  change." 

"Your  change?"  said  the  vendor.  What  do  you 
mean?  We  never  in  this  country  take  anything  less 
than  twenty-five  cents." 

The  darkv  turned  pale  and  gasped.  Presently  they 
noticed  a  broad  grin  and  a  pair  of  white  teeth  showing 
as  he  reached  his  long  arm  across  the  counter  and 
said,  as  he  took  the  rest  of  the  pie :  "Say,  Mister, 
I  never  does  take  less  than  a  whole  pie,"  and  jumped 
on  the  stage,  and  the  crack  of  the  whip  and  the  stage 
rolled  away  with  the  pie  vender  looking  after  him  in 
dismay. 

The  stage  driver,  Shorty  Harris,  was  a  curio,  rare, 
young  and  bold,  for  he  did  not  gamble,  drink  or  smoke 
and  was  a  native  Nevada  boy.  As  they  got  well  ac- 
quainted with  him  he  commenced  telling  them  of  his 
plans. 

He  said :  "I  am  saving  up  my  money  to  see  your 
blooming  California  and  that  Portland  show.  Say, 
Mister,  tell  me  the  best  way  to  get  there,  and  what 
would  be  the  fare?  I  would  like  to  go  by  the  steam- 
boat as  I  have  rode  every  beast  and  thing  but  a  boat 
that  goes.  They  say  that  thar  boat  does  rock  and  pitch 
about  and  rock  more  than  my  old  Concord  coach.  I 
would  just  like  to  see  if  she  can  turn  over  on  her  top 
and  right  herself  ^about,  for  I  have  done  that  thar  feat 
with  this  very  coach  and  with  six  on  the  line." 

20 


o  o 
O  ^ 

(U 

o  o 

Is 


fl    A 


ft  >o 

Si  ^ 
u  o 


(U   a; 

a- 

o  "^ 

^1 


Tenderfoot  remarked :  "That  was  certainly  a  feat, 
but  please  do  not  try  to  do  it  while  we  are  on  this  trip. 
Were  you  ever  held  up  on  your  trips?" 

"Yes,  only  once,"  he  said,  "when  I  drove  the  Bodie 
stage  which  every  trip  brought  big  bricks  of  gold  down 
to  Hawthorne  to  be  shipped  away  to  Frisco.  A  lone 
highwayman  "rose  up  all  at  once  from  behind  a  lone 
Joshua  tree,  with  a  Winchester  level  dead  on  me  and 
his  finger  was  on  the  trigger.  I  tell  you  what.  Mister, 
the  bore  in  that  gun  looked  mighty  big  to  me  because 
I  saw  his  finger  twitching  around  that  trigger.  He 
ordered  me  to  tell  the  passengers  to  get  out  and  line 
up  and  I  quickly  ordered  them  out  and  told  them  to  be 
quick  about  it  too,  for  this  fellow  meant  business.  He 
is  in  charge  now.  He  sent  me  to  the  leaders  and  made 
the  passengers  drop  their  money  on  a  pile.  One  fel- 
low, who  lived  at  the  town  beyond,  said:  'Give  me 
back  that  $5  for  it's  all  I  have  to  pay  my  hotel  bill.' 
Xook  here.  Mister.'  said  the  robber,  'that  won't  go. 
If  you  did  not  live  out  in  these  parts  you  would  have 
more  than  $5  on  you  to  pay  your  hotel  bill '  " 

Just  at  this  moment  of  the  graphic  description  of 
the  hold-up  out  rang  a  voice  clear  and  strong  on  the 
desert  air :  "Hold  up,  there."  They  all  gasped  for 
breath,  their  hands  went  to  their  pockets  and  the  wom- 
en's hands  went  to  their  breasts  to  hide  away  what 
money  they  had  left.  With  the  sudden  stoppage  of  the 
coach  the  passengers  all  had  blank  and  terror  stricken 
faces,  but  they  were  all  at  once  all  in  smiles  as  they 
saw  a  camera  fiend  line  up  to  take  a  shot  at  the  over- 
loaded Concord  coach  out  on  the  plain  bound  for  Gold- 
field. 


22 


They  were  now  in  sight  of  Goldfield.  Tenderfoot  was 
peering  with  wide  open  eyes  and  mouth  at  the  spot 
of  spots  now  noted  as  the  richest  spot  on  this  globe. 
Expert  said:  "Look  at  the  tilted  tabk  hills  on  the 
right'  and  left  of  Goldfield,  see  how  the  stratas  pitch 
to  the  west  toward  the.  mountains,  then  look  toward 
Diamond  field  and  notice  how  they  dip  east  toward 
Ralston  desert,  and  notice  a  little  to  the  west  of  Co- 
lumbia mountain  that  small,  sharp  peak  just  in  line 
with  us  and  Goldfield;  that  is  the  granite,  or  Alaskite, 
core,  that  lifted  up  those  flat  topped,  tilted  table  hills, 
which  are  sedimentary  stratas  under  the  capping  consist- 
ing of  sandstone,  shale  and  lime,  which  are  all  washed 
away,  exposing  the  mineral  poryphry  which  carried  the 
veins  of  gold.  Don't  that  old  red  hill  beyond  the  Com- 
bination and  the  Jumbo  look  fine?  What  artist  could 
paint  it  a  more  lovely  hue  and  how  precious  is  that  old 
hill  with  its  stores  and  stores  of  gold.  It  is  painted 
though  by  nature's  chemical  actions  red,  blue,  gray 
and  green  Some  think  it  is  a  volcanic  heat  that 
burnt  them,  but  such  is  not  the  case.  That  red  is  the 
simple  result  of  a  chemical  change  in  the  original  sul- 
phide of  iron  to  a  red  oxide  of  iron. 

They  are  now  at  last  in  Goldfield,  with  piles  and  piles 
of  sacks,  which  makes  you  think  of  the  California 
wheat  houses  with  their  piles  and  pileS  of  sacks  of 
wheat;  but  there  is  quite  a  difference  in  the  value  of 
a  sack  of  wheat  and  a  sack  of  this  ore,  which  makes 
one  stand  in  awe,  for  wheat  is  worth  $2.00  a  sack, 
while  this  ore  you  see  is  worth  as  high  as  $100.00  a 
sack.  Of  course,  all  the  men  here  are  in  high  spirits, 
and  they  congregate  around  the  bars  telling  of  the  new 
and    rich    strikes    of   ore,   and    how    Bill    and   Jim   and 


23 


John  had  a  big  offer  for  their  finds,  and  how  Dick, 
Shorty  and  Jack  sold  their  claims  for  a  good  big  sum, 
were  now  treating  the  whole  town  with  every  thing  on 
tap,   and   it  was   a   day  galore   for  all  the  old  bums. 

At  one  of  the  big  saloons  an  attractive  woman  of 
striking  apearance,  with  diamonds  as  big  as  peanuts 
flashing  from  her  ears,  alighted  from  a  large  auto- 
mobile, came  up  to  the  bar,  and  said,  "Come  on,  boys, 
and  have  a  drink  with  me;  come  on  you  fellows  that 
are  hanging  around  the  stove  line  up  here,  and  order 
just  what  you  want." 

The  glasses  soon  cracked  to  the  health  of  this  boom- 
ing camp,  and  the  thing  is  done.  A  twenty-dollar 
gold  piece  is  flung  to  the  counter.  She  did  not  stop 
for  change.  She  and  the  auto  car  were  soon 
gone.  "Who  is  she?"  was  asked.  "Why,  she  is  a 
Jewess,  and  her  fellow  makes  money  by  the  barrel; 
she  spends  it  as  she  wants  to  and  makes  things 
bum  when  she  is  hereabout,"  said  one  of  the  crowd. 

Tenderfoot  said,  "This  is  a  mighty  swift  place.  I 
hope  we  will  soon  get  into  the  swim  and  be  able  to 
keep  up  with  the  pace."  "All  right,"  said  Expert,  "for 
here  is  Max  Kunsey,  a  good  mining  man  and  a  hail 
fellow  well  met,  who  knows  the  country,  mines  and 
♦claims,  and  stands  in  solid  with  the  supers  at  the 
mines.  He  took  them  first  to  the  January  mine,  where 
he  introduced  them  to  the  genial  and  popular  Super  Sol 
Camp.  Max  whispered  something  into  his  ear.  Sol 
looked  around  and  picked  up  a  pestle  and  mortar  and 
a  chunk  of  ore  from  the  dump.  He  crushed  it  in  the 
mortar,  and  when  he  had  panned  out  the  gold  in  the 
ore  showed  up  fully  a  teaspoonful  of  the  yellow  stuff." 

"My,"  said  Tenderfoot,  "how  could  such  a  small 
piece  of  rock  contain   so  much  gold?" 

24 


Mr.  Camp  said,  with  a  smile,  "This  is  poor  stuff  be- 
side that  which  is  in  those  white  sacks." 

Tenderfoot  looked  in  amazement,  and  turned  to  a 
miner  who  had  just  come  up  the  shaft  from  the  depths 
below,  who  stopped  as  he  passed  to  look  at  the  gold 
that  was  just  panned  out  in  the  little  black  pan.  Tender- 
foot looked  up  and  said  to  him,  "You  have  a  wonderful 
camp  here." 

"That's  what  we  have,  mister;  and  it  will  be  a  hell 
of  a  camp  if  the  Government  does  not  demonetize  gold." 

Expert  turned  to  Max  Kunsey,  and  asked  at  what 
price  could  a  claim  be  bought  close  in  near  the  January, 
Jumbo  or  Florence  mines. 

"Look  over  there  just  north  of  the  January  claim. 
I  can  get  you  that  group  of  claims  for  $125,000,"  said 
Max. 

"What!"  said  Expert,  "is  not  that  a  big  price  for  a 
claim  with  no  out-cropping  ledges  and  without  develop- 
ment work  done?" 

"Well,"  said  Max,  "you  will  find  you  will  have  to 
pay  for  possibilities  in  this  camp,  if  you  get  any  ground 
close  in  on  the  mineral  belt." 

Expert,  turning  to  Tenderfoot,  said :  "We  will  have 
to  trace  the  direction  this  belt  runs,  then  secure  some 
cheap  claims  on  the  line  of  same ;  I  cannot  recommend 
you  to  buy  that  ground  at  such  a  price." 

Expert  turned  to  Max  as  he  stood  on  the  January 
ore  dump,  sizing  up  the  general  trend,  strike  and  pitch 
of  the  outcropping  reefs.  "I  have  in  my  mind  the  trend 
of  the  mineral  belt;  can  we  get  some  claims  right  over 
that  grani.te  peak  that  sticks  up  to  the  left  of  Columbia 
mountain?" 

26 


"Yes,  you  can  get  claims  over  there  at  your 
own  price ;  it  is  over  a  mile  and  a  half  to  the 
point  you  designate  from  here.  I  will  recommend  you 
a  man  to  show  you  that  place  over  there." 

A  man  came  who  had  just  got  over  a  bum,  and  said, 
"You  go  on  in  your  carriage,  and  I  will  go  on  my 
horse." 

So  off  they  went.  Their  carriage  rolled  on  though  the 
camp  just  north  of  Goldfield,  called  Columbia,  and  they 
drove  up  the  slope  of  the  little  granite  peak  beside 
Columbia  Mountain,  and  drove  over  to  what  was  then 
called  the  Grandpa  mines.  Everything  was  quiet  and 
not  a  soul  in  sight;  nor  could  they  hear  a  hammer,  pick 
or  drill,  and  no  horseman  was  in  sight. 

They  climbed  up  to  the  top  of  the  ridge  to  see  if  he 
was  coming  (on  which  ridge  is  now  located  and  being 
developed  the  celebrated  Sandstorm  and  Kendall  mines), 
and  waited  and  watched  for  the  lone  horseman  to 
appear  to  show  them  the  claims  they  had  come  to  see. 

"What  do  you  think  of  this  ground?"  said  Tender- 
foot. 

"It  is  my  opinion,"  said  Expert,  "we  are  right  on 
line  with  the  mineral  belt,  although  we  are  a  mile  and 
a  half  beyond  the  edge  of  the  demonstrated  mines.  See 
here,  how  the  porphyry  reefs  are  running  a  litttle  west 
of  north,  and  heading  directly  for  Tonopah.  They  dip 
in  the  valley  just  over  there  and  probably  lie  horizontal, 
as  the  core  probably  did  not  pitch  them  up  very  much; 
then  rise  up  again  beyond,  don't  you  see,  at  Gold 
Mountain  and  Gold  Reef,  where  there  is  another  little 
peak  of  granite  that  does  the  elevating  process  there. 

They  waited  in  vain  for  the  horseman  to  appear. 
Their  patience  was  exhausted,  as  nobody  came  in 
sight,  so  they  drove  on  to  Diamondfield,  and  there  met 

27 


Diamondfield  Jack,  who  only  a  few  months  before  had 
come  into  this  country  on  a  borrowed  bronco.  He 
staked  a  claim  for  the  loan  of  a  bronco,  which  claim 
afterward  sold  for  a  big  sum,  and  now  Diamondfield 
Jack,  the  noted  cowboy,  is  now  breaking  in  autos,  and 
the  only  gun  plays  he  now  makes  are  when  some  foreign 
devil  jumps  one  of  his  claims,  and  there  are  two  jumps 
in  the  play,  one  on  and  one  off,  to  the  crack  of  Jack's 
gun. 

They  proceeded  to  Goldfield,  where  they  met  the 
celebrated  Dr.  White  Wolf,  an  educated  Indian  from 
the  Carlisle  School,  noted  for  his  cleverness  in  times 
past  in  protecting  and  defending  his  tribe.  At  one 
time,  it  is  said,  he  and  a  few  others  were  selected  to 
to  go  to  Washington  and  confer  with  President  Cleve- 
land. All  went  there  in  their  native  dress.  It  seems 
that  the  interpreter  had  a  card  up  his  sleeve  to  beat 
this  Indian  tribe  in  the  deal  that  was  to  be  made,  and 
he  falsely  interpreted  the  conversations  held  by  the 
representative  men  on  each  side.  After  the  council 
was  over  White  Wolf  insisted  on  seeing  the  President 
alone  His  request  was  finally  granted,  and  as  he  was 
ushered  into  the  presence  of  the  President  he  said,  in 
perfect  English :  "Good  morning,  President  Cleveland, 
I  sought  to  see  you  to  denounce  the  great  fraud  that 
the  interpreter  has  made  your  representative  believe, 
and  save  my  people  from  a  gang  of  thieves."  The 
matter  was  sifted,  and  the  tribe  was  protected,  and  Dr. 
White  Wolf  was  presented  with  a  present  from  the 
President  for  the  service  he  had  done  his  people  and 
Uncle   Sam. 

Dr.  White  Wolf  was  on  the  ground  early  when 
Goldfield  was  discovered,  and  secured  some  very  valu- 

28 


able  claims.  He  said :  "I  had  quite  a  time  to  hold  that 
White  Rack  claim  adjoining  the  January,  as  some 
jumpers  claimed  part  of  it.  I  took  my  Winchester  and 
camped  on  that  spot,  and  never  slept  a  minute  for  three 
days  and  nights  watching  for  those  jumpers,  and  I  got 
so  desperate  and  nervous  that  if  a  man,  woman  or 
child  had  put  a  foot  on  that  ground  during  that  dreadful 
time,  I  believe  I  would  surely  have  shot  them  down. 
Just  a  week  or  two  after  I  went  through  this  ordeal 
I  caught  a  jumper  building  a  monument  and  digging 
a  hole  within  a  stone's  throw  of  my  door.  I  just 
reached  up  for  my  gun,  and  said  to  him :  'Say,  mister, 
what  are  you  doing  on  this  property  of  mine?'  and 
he  haughtily  replied,  'It's  none  of  your  damn  business; 
this  ground  is  mine.'  I  just  got  a  drop  on  him,  and 
said,  'Now,  fill  up  that  hole  you  dug,  you  dog,'  and 
then  I  made  him  pull  down  the  monument  and  carry 
all  the  rocks  off  the  claim,  and  as  he  sulked  off,  he 
cried  back,  'I'll  fix  you  for  this.'  One  Monday  morning 
early  a  fellow  rapped  at  my  door,  and  when  I  opened 
it  there  stood  a  poor  old  drunk  whom  I  had  tried  to 
help  and  doctor  him  up.  'Come  in,  Tom,  what  can  I 
do  for  you  now?'  He  said,  excitedly,  as  he  looked 
around,  *Doc,  I  just  came  from  the  Mint  Saloon,  and 
early  this  morning,  as  I  was  waking  up  out  of  a  booze 
which  I  was  on  last  night,  I  heard  some  fellows  talking 
near  the  stove,  and  I  heard  the  word  White  Wolf.  I 
immediately  closed  my  eyes  and  opened  my  ears,  and 
I  heard  those  fellows  planning  to  kill  you,  and  this  is 
the  plan,  Doc:  One  of  them  is  to  come  and  ask  you 
to  show  him  one  of  your  claims  south  of  town,  as  he 
had  a  tenderfoot  in  hand  who  would  buy  it.  When  they 
get  you  out  into  the  canyon  the  other  two  fellows  are 

29 


to  lie  in  ambush  and  are  to  kill  you ;  so,  Doc,  watch 
out  and  keep  your  eye  peeled  for  them.  I  know  if  you 
get  half  a  chance  you  can  take  care  of  yourself.' 

"I  put  Tom  to  bed,  and  gave  him -some  Bromo  to 
sober  him  up,  and  then  1  sat  down  and  waited  for 
my  visitor,  who  soon  came  along.  He  gave  me  a  talk 
and  wanted  a  price  and  terms  on  one  of  my  claims. 
He  proposed  to  me  that  I  should  go  out  and  show  him 
the  claim      'All  right,'  said  I,  as  I  reached  up  on  the 

wall    for   my   gun.      'Now,   you   , 

march  out  of  that  door,  and  stay  straight  ahead  of  me; 
don't  you  go  to  the  right  or  the  left.  At  the  first 
rustle  or  sight  of  another  man  up  in  that  canyon  you 
are  a  dead  man.'  I  marched  him  right  up  to  that 
canyon,  and  then  back  again.  These  jumpers,  I  guess, 
will  now  let  me  alone." 

Tenderfoot  said :  "Well,  Doc,  I  see  now  that  you 
have  got  to  fight  as  well  as  work  for  what  you  get 
here,  and  I  am  not  made  of  that  kind  of  stuff,  so  I 
am  afraid  I  will  not  prosper  here." 

As  they  bade  Dr.  White  Wolf  adieu  and 
started  down  the  streets  of  Goldfield  they  saw 
a  small  crowd  of  miners  in  a  bunch,  examining  a  piece 
of  ore  which  was  covered  with  gold,  just  brought  in 
from  a  new  district  just  discovered  south  of  Goldfield, 
and  plans  were  being  made  by  the  crowd  for  a  rush 
to  the  new  field.  All  were  mentally  scheming  to  get 
there  first   and   locate   the   vacant  ground. 

A  prospector  out  on  the  edge  of  the  crowd  said  to 
Tenderfoot:  "Grubstake  me,  and  I  will  go  and  locate 
claims   at  this   new   find" 

"I  will  do  it,"  said  Tenderfoot. 

There  was  a  rush  to  the  livery  stables  to  hire  the 
best  teams.     Expert  turned  to  look  for  Tenderfoot,  and 

30 


lo  !  and  behold,  we  saw  his  big  form  leading  the  flying 
gang.  The  stable  was  reached  in  a  moment  of  time, 
and  through  the  door  they  went  in  a  rush,  all  clamor- 
ing for  the  best  team. 

He  managed  to  catch  up  and  pull  Tenderfoot  aside. 
He  had  already  bargained  for  the  best  team  to  be  had. 

Expert  said :  "This  is  nothing  new,  as  a  rush  is 
made  every  thirty  days  to  some  new  find,  and  only 
one  stampede  in  a  thousand  ever  amounts  to  anything, 
and  if  we  would  follow  up  every  reported  new  find  we 
would  be  continually  stampeding  all  the  time ;  and 
if  we  did,  we  would  no  sooner  be  well  settled  in 
camp  at  the  new  find,  when  some  day  in  would  rush 
some  fellows  from  another  new  section  of  country 
still  further  on,  and  announce  a  new  strike  richer  than 
anything  yet  that  had  ever  been  found.  If  we  would 
follow  this  excitement  up  we  would  in  time  be  exhausted 
in  flesh,  health,  money  and  wind,  and  have  nothing 
but  claims  staked  out  from  one  end  of  the  State  to 
the  other.  We  would  soon  be  in  the  same  condition 
that  Mark  Twain  vividly  describes  of  when  he  was 
a  tenderfoot,  prospector,  mining  and  newspaper  man, 
in  the  early  days  on  the  Comstock,  which  he  fully  and 
truthfully  describes  in  his  noted  book  'Roughing  it ' 
So  don't  you  see  now.  Tenderfoot,  that  we  must  stick 
close  to  Tonopah  and  Goldfield,  arid  be  like  the  boy 
going  blackberry  hunting  who  stuck  to  the  first  black- 
berry bush  and  got  his  pail  full  of  berries  while  the 
other  boys  kept  hunting  for  biger  patches  of  berries, 
and  all  their  time  was  consumed  in  hunting  for  same, 
and  they   returned  home  with  only  partly  filled  pails." 

"I  see  your  philosophy  and  think,  also,  we  ought 
to  carry  the  plan  out  and  stay  with  Tonopah  and  Gold- 
31 


field,  no  matter  what  thunder  may  be  raised  about 
new   districts   far  and  near,"   said  Tenderfoot. 

Just  then,  as  they  w.ere  walking  down  the  main  street 
toward  the  north  end  of  the  town,  they  saw  another 
crowd  running  to  what  turned  out  to  be  a  woman  with 
a  six-shooter  cowhiding  a  man,  who  had  the  nerve 
to  jump  her  lot,  which  she  had  bought  when  she  first 
came  to  town  and  which  now  was  worth  a  good  deal 
of  coin.  V  Of  course,  the  jumper  was  put  to  flight  by 
such  a  startling  onslaught,  and  she  was  left  in  peaceable 
possession  of  that  portion  of  the  townsite. 

Tenderfoot  excitedly  exclaimed :  "I  see  there  is  no 
rest  now  for  the  owner  of  mines  or  lands,  so  one 
is  bound  to  be  in  trouble  whether  he  has  much  or 
little,  and  it  appears  to  me  now  that  he  has  the  least 
trouble  who  has  nothing  to  defend  or  lose.  I  could 
never  see  until  now  the  philosophy  of  that  text,  'Blessed 
is  he  who  is  poor.' " 

If  we  should  continue  to  narrate  all  that  befell 
Tenderfoot  and  Expert,  and  all  that  they  saw  and  did 
in  this  wonderful  golden  land,  it  would  fill  so  many 
pages  you  would  be  reading  from  daylight  to  dawn; 
so  we  believe  we  have  found  a  place  to  leave  Tender- 
foot for  a  while,  at  least  until  he  has  bought  a  mine, 
made  a   stake  and  his  pile. 


32 


